I Don't Believe in Forever
by letsgochasethesunsetx3
Summary: Forever wasn't just a word. Nick & Miley.
1. That Old Country Lane

There were a lot of things I loved about that country lane; the way it curved naturally around the willow tree, the wood fences along either side of it and how it seemed as if it never ended. When I was a little girl, I truthfully believed that the lane just continued on forever. Now, at sixteen, I was more than familiar with the lie of 'forever'.

The word never had much meaning to me until Nick Grey told it to me just about everyday. If he didn't say it to me, he wrote it in permanent Sharpie on my hand, on the whites of my Converse sneakers or perhaps he would text it to me along with a line from some cheesy Shakespear poem. It wasn't until those lovely days of simplicity came to an abrupt end that the true meaning of 'forever' actually had an effect on me. I had looked it up in the dictionary. Obviously, I did know what the sense of the word was. I just wanted to compare reasonings, so I looked it up and was surprised I hadn't received an ultimately scientific response. "For-ev-er (noun/adverb)" it had read, "a seemingly endless period of time".

In that moment, I changed. Some would say for the best, others would say for the worst, but all agreed I wasn't the same I had been for years. While the rest of America had very detailed conversations on the sudden difference in me, I, on the other hand, could care less. Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing was the same anymore. Nobody who had been in my life before was there anymore. Nobody wanted to even know me. Those were the least of me concerns, however. Learning that a word that had been so close to my heart for so long was generally nothing more than a freaking metaphor crushed me. I decided I needed to edit what I believed in a little bit more often after that. My new motto for life: I don't Believe in Forever.

Spending the first three weeks off I'd had in more than three years teaching my musical knowledge to a whole bunch of teenagers at a famous school in the middle of nowhere New York was far from how I had expected to spend the beginning of summer. When my manager had told me Disney had a "pleasant surprise" for me, I expected it to be me getting sent off to some tropical island to relax and regain my sanity. No. Of course not. Disney's got me signed up to teach some losers how to be a musician for three weeks. Not that I even really liked tropical islands at all, I would have preferred it much more than spending my summer in New York.

Evianna, my manager, had other ideas. She thought it would be fantastic if I had a chance to spend some time with other teenagers and experience a "real job" for the first time, supposing that being a musician isn't a "real job".

So, I packed a small suitcase, threw on some gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt, and hoped for the best. See, this is how a child-star-on-probation regains the respect she deserves from the people in charge of her. Of course, this wasn't the jail kind of probation. It was the kind that meant, one-more-mistake-and-your-outta-here sort of probation. Apparently, I was the diva of Hollywood. Hollywood has no sympathy for divas. It's times like these that divas have to do everything it takes to get rid of their diva-status, hold their heads up high and act like they aren't a diva, even if they are. Even people like me, who don't give a damn what others think, have to go through the process of diva rehab and get better. So if taking a plane a thousand miles from my beautiful country lane was what it took, that was what it took.

My arrival at this musical school had lots of people in shock, including myself. While most of the other kids were in shock at the sight of Miley Stewart, Musical Legend, I was in shock at the sight of Nick and Joe Grey standing amongst the kids, their expressions equally as shocked as mine.

Evianna responded the my being shocked by giggling a little, placing a reassuring hand on my bony shoulder, and saying, "surprise! Disney though it would also be great if you and the boys got to spend some quality time together!" her happiness unmistakable.

Nick stood there, right there in front of me, brown locks, brown eyes, hard muscles and that adorable brown freckle right above his upper lip that I had kissed so many times (A/N: yes, I do know that this freckle does not exist). Nobody spoke. Not even Joe, who never let a moment pass without some sort of lame joke. Not even the kids, of which there must have been at least fifty between the ages of seven and fifteen. I didn't know whether to say something, say nothing, run, scream, shout, hide, say hello or to just start crying. But as I made the first eye-contact I had had with him in the past eight months, to just start crying seemed like the appropriate way to go.


	2. Sometimes You Need to Cry

It was kind of like that rush you get before, during and after performing an extremely emotional song. The feeling you get when you have a mixture of way too many emotions: sadness, excitedness, nervousness. I didn't know why, exactly, as I wasn't a child psychologist, but as I ran swiftly down through the doors of that musical school, I didn't feel any of the common emotions I felt while experiencing a _rush_. This time, the only thing I felt was scared.

I must have looked like the biggest fool in the world, running away from my ex boyfriend. To be frank, I didn't care. I never did, anymore. Besides, I was out of there so quickly most people probably wouldn't have noticed unless they were staring at me, which most of them were. But I couldn't help myself. Nick and I, we had so much history. After it all ended, I created this whole new world that I was in the process of building when I arrived here. In my new world, Nick didn't exist. Neither did Megan or Selena or Demi or anybody, really. It was just me and that old country lane.

Seeing Nick again was basically like a tsunami coming from nowhere, crashing down on my New World, and drowing it into the ocean, never to be seen again. My first instict was to rebuild. That's why I ran. If I could avoid him and everyone and live in my own little world, this would go great. But there was no use. I didn't live in my own little world, as much as I wished I did. But building walls, ignorance and a little bit of perseverance could get me pretty close. As close as possible, I thought. Besides, it's not like anybody really cared whether or not I was really a member of this world after all. I would rather be by myself. I couldn't let anyone in.

"Oh, hello!" said a young woman with long red hair. She approached me slowly, as if petting a dog for the first time; cautiously.

"Hi," I said with virtually no expression in my voice.

"I'm the Headmistress of this school," she said with pride, "you are Miley Stewart, am I right?"

"Yeah," I said, "that's me."

"Well, we are so happy to have you here at our school. It is so nice to see that even celebrities are interested in helping others. You are such a wonderful musician, Miley. The kids have been excited for months!" she laughed, "oh, and when we learned Joe and Nick Grey would be joining you, the kids just went wild!"

I smiled politely. Could this woman not see I was clearly not in the mood for small talk? Apparently not, as she continued almost immediately.

"I trust you have met the kids outside, right? They had been waiting out there since noon," she said in a stern voice. I suppose she must have known I had rushed in, as I had just arrived.

"Well, of course," I lied, "I just needed to, um, use the restroom?" The stern look on her face softened and a huge smile suddenly appeared.

"Right down the hall, sweety."

As I walked down the hall, I decided that I didn't like that woman. She was way too _nice_. Those are the worst. They piss me off.

I entered a very school-like washroom and entered one of the first stalls. I needed to cry. Just to add drama to my sobs, I tried to remember everything that sucked in my life.

Megan, my ex-best friend. I'd known her since I was eleven and we'd been inseperable. Ever since Nick broke up with me, saying we were friends would be an overstatement. We were worse than enemies, if that even existed. She was the bully and I was the freak who couldn't go a day without experiencing some kind of embarassment. I don't think anybody fully understands what it is like to be the victim unless they have experienced it first-hand. Megan doesn't belong in my world.

Selena and Demi and I didn't even have a relationship. After Megan and I made fools of them publically at the Teen Choice Awards '08, all I knew was that they hated me. I felt pretty low to have done something so wicked to people I didn't even know. I felt even lower after Megan became my ex-best friend and blamed the whole episode on me. That's when the people started to hate me.

My dad, my best friend, my soulmate died a year and a half ago. That's when everything changed. My dad would always tell me, "forever, forever, Miley," but it wasn't so. His death proved it. Everything changed then. I didn't know who to trust. I didn't know who else would lie to me like he did. I hadn't created my own little world by then, but the walls had began to rise. It was the beginning.

Nick, my love, broke up with me. Nothing was ever the same. I couldn't count all the times Nick told me he would love me forever and that we would be together forever. That's when I ended my relationship with the world to be on my own. Forever didn't exist. I didn't believe in it anymore.

My relationship with Nick had my world in a state of nothing but simplicity. We had been friends since I was three and he was four. I can remember playing tag on that old country lane, daring each other to go past the corner store (that was as far as we were allowed at the time) and telling each other's mothers when one of us would dare to go past it. We would dance every summer night on the stage at the carnival in town, not knowing what song we were dancing to or what kind of dance we were supposed to be doing; we just danced. I can remember spending all day every summer day at that carnival. My dad ran it. Nick and I absolutely loved it.

Even though Nick and I were a grade apart, we remained the best of friends throughout elementary school. He would always have to help me with my homework after school. It wasn't that I didn't understand, because I did. I just wanted to spend as much time with him as I could. After we finished our homework we would scooter along the country lane, back and forth all night long, talking about life. It was the best.

Eight months ago, Nick broke up with me and my life might as well have ended. I didn't see (him nor did I speak to him. We had no relationship whatsoever. We might as well have been two individuals who had never known each other when it wasn't like that at all. We knew way too much of each other.

I cried and even sobbed at my very fond childhood and teenage memories for less than five minutes before I decided I was too good for this. Too good to be thinking about Megan or Demi and Selena or Nick or even Dad. It was the first and last episode I would have. Although I was slightly embarassed that I had cried upon one eye contact made with Nick, I was kind of content as well. Because sometimes, maybe for no real reason at all, you just have to cry.

(_A/N: Hi! I know that this chapter is somewhat boring, but I just wanted whoever is reading this to become familiar with the characters and Miley Stewart's life. The next chapters will be getting right into it; drama, romance and all! THANKS!!_)


	3. Scared

As much as I knew it was no good idea, I forced myself to look over at Nick and Selena. It turns out, Selena needed diva-rehab as well. As soon as I exited the bathroom after my little episode, I was greeted by Joe and Selena. Nick, on the other hand, was busy taking pictures with over-excited teenage girls. I have to say, Selena is a nice girl. A whole lot nicer than I am. But I'm not here to compare myself to anybody else.

She said hello to me in a very classy way and even complimented my outfit, which was clearly just an attempt at niceness as even I knew the outfit was disgusting. I was surprised at how _nice _she was. Nice people piss me off.

Tonight was a meeting for all the instructors, something that occurs every night, apparently. We were sitting in what looked like a very typical living room, listening the the Headmistress explain everything to us.

"So, as tomorrow is the first day of the musical portion of the students' education, for those of you who don't know they have spent the past three months learning about art, I have a lot to explain to all of you, considering we have not yet had a musical semestre," (A/N: simplified, this school doesn't really have any summer break. The kids at the school have spent the entire school year learning about art, and now they are having their musical lessons.)

I glanced over at Nick, who was sitting next to Selena and Joe. My, the three of them looked like they belonged in some expensive private school in Manhattan. Together, they looked pretty. I, on the other hand, was sitting on my own over in the corner of the room, pretending to be interested in what the Headmistress had to say. _It's just you here, _I thought to myself, _just you and that old country lane_.

"I am going to try to make this quick and easy, as I assume most of you are eager to get back to your hotels and sleep, something you may find yourself dreaming about while working with all the kids," she laughed. "So, the next three weeks will be split into two main lessons; Vocals and Performance. Within the two lessons are four mini-lessons; writing, singing, voice-control and how it is that we sing in Vocals." I rolled my eyes. Those four "mini-lessons" were pathetic. Writing? Singing? Voice-control? Learning how we sing? Lame.

"Since music is absolutely not all about singing," she continued, "Performance will be about instruments as well as performing. The four mini-lessons will be: history of performance, learning how to perform, exploring different instruments and tips and secrets about performing. Now I will read to you who will be instructing which lessons and you will be given a schedule so you do not forget when to teach!" She laughed and picked up a pink sheet of paper which I supposed had the schedules.

"In vocals we will have the following instructors: Jessica, Emily, Jason, Matthew, Sarah, Miley, Conner and Nick," she smiled. Great. "In performance we will have the following instructors: Selena, Kiley, Kelsey, George, Robin, Michael, Joe and Liam. Please try to remember, at the least, what your main lesson is," I could see some of the instructors writing this down. What losers. "Now, I will assign you a mini-lesson which you will be teaching with somebody else. I must tell you that you will be paired with a person of the opposite gender so that the kids will have somebody they can relate to in some way at the least," she said with a sigh. I sighed as well. The last thing I needed was to have to do _anything _with another person, not to mention a person of the opposite gender. "Jessica and Mathew in voice-control, Jason and Emily in learning how we sing, Miley and Nick in song writing, whom I am assuming will be the power couple," she giggled and I cringed, "and Sarah and Conner in singing," she handed out schedules to each of us and continued on telling us who was with who doing what in the Performance lessons, but I was not listening. I couldn't help but think about who's cruel joke this was. It was as if somebody was inside my head, listening to my thoughts of Nick, and secretly laughing inside as they paired me up with him to teach people how to write songs.

"Well, that's about it," she said, "oh! Don't forget to be here at seven am tomorrow morning, no matter what time your lesson is at," she said sternly, and her facial expression reminded me of yesterday. "Alright then, thanks for coming everybody!" She waved happily at the instructors and everybody tiredly shuffled through the door and exited.

I honestly had no idea where I was supposed to go. Evianna had left hours ago. I had arrived here in a taxi…where was I supposed to go?

Answering my question, Joe caught up to me with Nick and Selena.

"Hey, Miley," Joe said as I crossed my arms across my chest. Everybody got into some car, and eventually we were the only ones left on the corner outside the school. "So, I guess we'll just wait for someone to come get us, then," Joe chuckled. I tried to imagine he wasn't there, but strangely, it only made me feel worried. It was comforting to have _somebody _there when you are outside a school late at night not knowing where you are supposed to be or go.

"So," Selena said, standing next to me. Nick joined her almost immediately and I felt too many people around me. I hated that feeling, unless I was performing. "Excited to teach, um, songwriting?" Selena asked me. I felt his eyes on me, Nick's eyes on me.

"Sure," I shrugged, slowly backing away from the circle. I didn't want anyone to be near me. I just wanted to be alone, me and that old country lane.

"Isn't it weird how, in the end, after everything, we all end up together somehow?" Selena laughed, "it's kind of funny, isn't it? I wonder if it means anything." What was she talking about? When had I even done something with just Selena, Joe and Nick ever before? _In the end, after everything_ those words replayed in my mind several times, trying to make sense of them.

"Um, yeah," I smiled quickly, naturally feeling uncomfortable. I looked up at Nick, who was staring right at me. I looked away almost immediately. Why did I keep trying to put myself out of my comfort zone? This wasn't seventh grade English. Why was I trying to make myself feel even lower than I already did?

A limo eventually arrived at the corner and took us to the hotel, who's name was "Le New York". How original? I was extremely happy to just arrive, whatever the name, at the hotel. I just wanted to go to sleep, maybe write a song or something. I had to call my mom.

We arrived at the front desk to check in.

"Name?" a lady at the front desk asked Joe, who was first in line. As usual, I was last. It didn't really bother me.

"Joe Grey?" Joe practically asked, obviously slightly shocked the lady didn't recognized him. _Jerk, _I thought.

If the lady was surprised, she didn't show it. Instead, she kept up with her calm, slow pace and kept us waiting for at least five minutes before she handed Joe his roomkey, which he grabbed for emphasis and stormed to the elevator. Typical Joe to overreact.

Selena told the woman her name and I braced myself for having to wait with Nick after she received her roomkey, but it wasn't so.

"Yes? Complaint already?" The lady asked, confused.

"Look," Selena got right to the point, "I'm just trying to check in. I'm tired and I want to go to bed."

"Yes, I just gave you the key," the lady sang, annoyed.

"No, you just gave Joe Grey his key. You haven't served me yet," Selena said, leaning over the counter.

"Joe Grey, Nick Grey, Selena Martinez, Miley Stewart, right?"

"Yes," Selena answered.

"It seems as Joe has the room key," the lady said, scrambling through her papers.

"Are you saying we are sharing a room?"

"A suite," the lady smiled.

"Is this a joke?" Nick spoke up. The lady shook her head and Selena and Nick looked at each other. I looked at my feet awkwardly, hoping Selena would fix all of this so I could just get to my room.

"It seems there's been a mistake," Selena said sweetly. "We are supposed to have our own rooms, so I guess us three," she motioned for Nick and I to step forward, "will book now," I reached into my bag to get my credit card. I wasn't planning on spending any money this trip, but sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do.

"Oh, no no no no no no!" the lady sang and smiled in the same cheesy way Selena had, "I'm under strict regulations to make sure you are all in that room!"

Selena looked at me, then at Nick. Even though I could feel Nick's eyes on me, I refused to look at him. Instead, I looked back down at my shoes and sighed. "Thanks for your help, we'll go to another hotel," Selena said.

"Oh, no no no no no no!" the lady sang again, annoying me. "I'm under strict regulations to make sure you are in this hotel, in that suite, the four of you! So, please," she looked directly at me, "stop complaining and deal with it, okay?" with that, she turned to the next guest, who was waiting impatiently.

"At least it's a suite," Selena said, "it won't be that bad, right?" Nick shrugged and I mumbled a, "whatever".

I spent the night tossing and turning in the bed I was forced to share with Selena, contemplating that Nick Grey was sleeping in a bed right across from mine. At some time in the middle of the night, I realized I couldn't take laying in a bed without sleeping. So I got up and went inside the bathroom, trying so hard to ignore Nick's sweater on the counter next to the sink. I annoyed myself with the fact that I recognized his clothes.

I took out my cell phone, shut the door to the bathroom, and dialed my Mom's number. Even though it was late, she wouldn't mind hearing from me.

"Hello?" her tired voice came through the receiver, and I immediately felt guilty for calling her, ready to dump all of my problems on her. I hung up the phone.

The lights in that bathroom were way too bright. I flicked them off and found myself in the dark in a place I didn't know. What a fool I was to do that, putting myself at a point I knew somebody could hurt me the most.

Too tired to think about it, I sat down and leaned against the bathtub, hugged my knees and shut my eyes, thinking about that old country lane. There was something about it, something that always drew me back to it. I thought about it when I felt the most insecure, which, on this trip, was pretty much all the time.

Suddenly, the door clicked open, and I wondered if anybody had heard me come in here. I wished they would go away. I was finally feeling calm. The light flicked on and I looked up to see Nick looking down at me.

"Miley?" he asked, closing the door behind him to not wake the others. I tried to imagine I was him, looking down at his ex-girlfriend, curled up in a ball in a hotel bathroom. _God, I must look pathetic, _I thought. "What are you doing?" he asked me.

I thought about it. What was I supposed to say? _Oh, hey Nick! Just sitting here on the bathroom floor in the dark, nothing weird about this. What's up? _Yeah. I couldn't say that. I looked back up at him, and got lost in his eyes. In them, it was as if I saw all of our memories on replay. Dancing at the carnival, swimming in the pool. But as soon as I saw that old country lane, something about it just struck my heart so hard. I couldn't hold in the tears. I leaned into my knees and sobbed, completely aware of Nick's presence. But somehow, I didn't feel embarassed or awkward. As my tears calmed, I looked up at him, and the only thing I felt was _scared_.


End file.
